


A New Day in Teufort

by MajorasLight



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-20 05:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8237224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MajorasLight/pseuds/MajorasLight
Summary: Welcome the new recruit to the war equivalent of capture the flag. Treat them well and you may not get a flamethrower to the face. Also there are several languages used in this and if I have made an error, please note that I am NOT fluent in these and am using Google translate, so please help me to fix these. Thank you~





	1. Meet the new Recruit

**Fire**

Everything was engulfed in flames, thick clouds of smoke billowed out of every opening of the surrounding buildings. Bots painted in purple were running around and shouting almost incoherently as they, too, were swathed in the light, burning kisses of the fire.

I gave a chuckle through my gas mask as I walked through the engulfed ruins of the training facility. I gave a wicked smirk when a rather brave Demobot charged at me and shot off a few bombs, I gave a quick air blast and sent them straight back, causing them to detonate upon impact with the Demo, making it explode into several burned and melted pieces.

I stood back and surveyed the destruction, and grinned despite myself, as the flames were finally dying down, having no fuel to burn with any longer outside of the chemical gasses in the air. The ground was littered with the husks of the fallen bots that were used as testing grounds for new recruits, and if they were of any use in their preferred or recommended classes.

Due to my more lanky body type and short stature, they had almost laughed when they recommended for me to be a Scout, and had laughed outright when I asked to take on the Pyro class, doubting I'd be able to even lift the large flamethrower. I smirked to myself as I brushed off a bit of soot that had made it's way onto my gray asbestos-lined hazmat suit. I was the one laughing now, I could almost see the shocked look on their faces as they watched from their little safe room.

All I should have to do now is sign a few papers and pick out whether I was going to head for the BLU or RED Teufort, and meet my new team.

~~~~

I gently set down the training flamethrower as I stripped the gas tank off my back to place it down by the bench, so I could properly remove the mask and suit when a loud laughter rang down the hall, along with the low whir of a minigun as it spun down to a stop. I looked up as I undid the snaps in the back of the mask and my eyes landed on a large Armenian man, smaller then the Russian from the Teufort files if I recall correctly, apparently having as much fun with the Heavy class as I was with the Pyro class.

"Bari yereko k'ich' tikiny." The large man greeted as he plopped the heavy training minigun down next to the flamethrower, as I had finished pulling off my mask and ran my fingers through my sweat soaked hair.

"I'm going to assume that was a form of hello, sooo...Hello." I muttered after getting air into my lungs that didn't smell like what I had for lunch. As I tugged at the snaps holding up my own suit, since I had such a large suit covering me I didn't have to change and was able to simply slip it over my own clothing. The Armenian wasn't as lucky as he had to step behind a nearby curtain to change.

"Ayo, it was," he chuckled, his thick accent still sounded far too close to Russian for my untrained ears to tell the difference. I managed to yank all the snaps off the back of the suit so I could pull it off.

"So tell me, how long did it take for Admin's to find such a tiny suit for an even tinier girl." The man barked a laugh, I rolled my eyes and held back a groan.

"Far longer then I liked," _and that was after they stopped laughing at me._

"HA! Not everyday a tiny woman comes in to be a fleymi hradzig."

"A what?"

"A flame shooter." I smirked at that, as he came out from behind his curtain in a pair of jeans and a black leather jacket. I was a lot smaller and scrawnier then the hulking Armenian, but that didn't mean I was scared of him.

"Well, some of us are just little balls of a raging inferno than." The Armenian laughed and slapped my shoulder, nearly knocking me to the floor.

"You are an adorable little girl," I was really getting sick of the short comments from this guy, I decided that whatever team he was joining, I wanted no part of. I just hoped he wanted to be in BLU, the color is nice but I prefer the color red myself.

"Well, what team is the little girl wanting to join?" I raised my eyebrow at the Armenian, as I rubbed my shoulder from the earlier hit.

"I'm planning on heading for the RED team."

"Red like fire, yes? I am more partial to the BLU team myself. Well, Here is to a temporary truce." The friendly Armenian stuck his hand out, I looked at it for a moment before shaking it. He seemed happy as he picked up the minigun, and walked out the door, possibly heading to the admins to sign his papers or whatever.

"A temporary truce, huh?" I wickedly grinned, _well I hope when we meet on the battlefield, I'll be the first one to split your skull wide open._


	2. Meet the new Pyro

Peace and quiet

It was early in the morning in camp RED Teufort, everyone peacefully asleep, with a few sawing logs. All was serene, quiet, and everything was at peace.

Until the clock turned to six a.m. and Soldier started playing Reveille on his bugle. This was met with a loud chorus of groans and curses.

"UP AND AT 'EM, MAGGOTS!" Soldier bellowed, causing his voice to crash though the thin walls to ensure everyone was wide awake.

"Oh come on Soldier, today is a ceasefire day, can't we all get a little extra sleep?" Scout growled as he flung open his door to glare at the rocket jumper.

"Change of plans, Scout!" This was met with groans. "We are actually going to be participating in battle today," more groans, "more importantly though, both teams are going to be getting a single new recruit today." This was met with intrigued grumbles.

"A new recruit? Like a new class?" The Engineer spoke up as he walked out of his room while fastening his suspenders.

"Negative, it seems that both teams are going to be getting a new edition to an already existing class. According to the Administrator, those damn BLU's are going to be getting a new defensive player, while we are getting a new offensive player."

"Ugh, great, zat is all ve need, anozer dummkopf running into ze fray and getting zemselves blown up." Medic grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"So that means that ze BLU team is getting themselves either a new Heavy weapons guy, a new Demoman, or a new Engineer." Spy looked thoughtful as he started to plan around this new development.

"And dat means dat we're getting a new Scout!" Scout grinned to himself.

"Or Soldier." Soldier puffed out his chest in pride.

"Mmph Mpho!" Came the muffled excitement of Pyro. This suddenly seemed to crash down on everyone else's heads, they hoped they weren't getting a new Pyro, one muffled freak with a flamethrower was enough, they didn't need a second.

"Either way maggots, finish getting ready and be outside for morning training, we want to make a good first impression on our new recruit, we wont be meeting them until after lunch, then after introductions are out of the way, the lot of us will have a battle to test out our new member, and make the damn new BLU regret choosing the color!" Soldier then did a salute and an about-face to go wake up Sniper, who slept outside in his van and relay the same information.

~~~~

I sighed as I walked around with this lady, what did she say her name was again...Pauling? I don't know. All I knew was that the entire damn RED base looked the same, barring the exception of symbols above the doors showing what this building was for. It reminds me of a military camp, only made with wood rather then tents.

Miss Pauling had me dress in purple for the walk through, so it would just look like she as showing a new assistant the ropes, rather then introducing a new team member to her environment, said it would keep the attention off the two of us. Which later turned out to be a good thing, as were almost ran over by a few different RED team members on their laps around the base, of which the Scout tried to flirt with Pauling, and got denied, the Spy tried flirting with the both of us, and got double denied, the Engineer apologizing profusely when he accidentally ran into us, well more me, and giving up my bottle of water to a wheezing Aussie who cursed at the Soldier for setting up this whole running regiment just because they were having a new recruit.

"So I take it I'm going to be the only female here in this base?" It wasn't a question really.

"That's right, so you need to be careful around here, being the only female is going to garner you a lot of probably unwanted attention from both sides of the teams." Miss Pauling gave a frown as she stared distastefully at the Scout as he flexed his barely existent muscles.

"So stay under my suit and mask until I've proven my worth to them, then if or when they find out, and they try or say anything I hit them with the butt of my shotgun." I grunted as I rolled my eyes at the Scout, until I heard shouting from a Soldier, which caused all the resting mercenaries to jump right back into their running.

"About the only one's you will need to reveal your gender to would be the Pyro and maybe the Medic." Pauling gave a small laugh as the other Mercenaries looked more like they were trying to run away from the Soldier rather then exercising.

"I can understand the Medic, but why Pyro?"

"Since we have limited space, you'll be bunking with him until we can get your own room emptied out of all the equipment and random junk thrown in there." It was then that the Pyro came running by, at a leisurely jog and seemingly unperturbed by the Soldier's shouting.

"Just a warning though, the Pyro is...A unique basket-case, even among the other unique basket-cases. Outside of battle he is a complete goofball but in battle...Well it's best you just stay out of his range or you'll end up being your own funeral pyre." I nodded and made a mental note to stay away from the other pyromaniac on the field.

"Alright Maggots, training is concluded, hit the showers!" The Soldier shouted as everyone trudged into the area for the showers, while the Pyro wandered off back into the main sleeping hall.

"Come on, we'll be able to move around a lot quicker while they are getting ready for your arrival." Pauling gave me a grin and continued to show me around.

~~~~

"Are you ready to meet your new team members?" Pauling was practically giddy. I simply shrugged my shoulders.

"Ash hudy ash mph mpph ee." I really didn't like this mask, it was confining, my field of view was limited, and it blocked my ability to speak clearly and be understood. It was fine when I faced off against robots, you could clearly hear them coming, people, not so much. If anything was going to give me away as a female, it would be this mask, after I tear it off in a rage in the middle of a battle.

"Great!" Pauling beamed as she opened the doors to the mess hall. I heaved a sigh, squared my shoulders, and walked in behind her.

"Everyone, please meet your new Pyro!" Pauling beamed as she stepped aside and waved her hands at me.

The discomfort on everyone's faces was rather clear, they were not expecting, nor wanting, a new Pyro class member, they also seemed to be put out that I was the smallest person here, well, all except for the Pyro, who looked like he had ingested FAR too much coffee.

"Mmmm...Herro?" I waved awkwardly at the gaping group. It was then that the Pyro came bounding over to me and picked me up into a giant bear hug, yelling something that sounded like he was right. Apparently he had guessed my class.

I wheezed out something that sounded like air, but it was hard for me to even tell since I really could only hear my ears popping inside this mask. After what felt like ages the overzealous Pyro finally dropped me and started dancing. I took as deep a breath as the mask would allow before staring at the rest of the group, who were all glancing around and whispering to each other.

"Is something the matter?" Pauling asked the group of men who were shifting around.

"Well...It's jus' 'dat..." The Scout started before rubbing the back of his neck.

"New Pyro ees so tiny." The Heavy finished and gave an awkward grin as I folded my arms in a small huff.

"Yes, he is smaller and can't take as many bullets as our usual Pyro, however he is faster and more agile then him as well."

"Den why didn't he become a Scout class, like me?" Scout huffed as he stared me down.

"Ahh ann blaee bafebarr mffh fshii." I shrugged, as was met with mildly confused stares. I huffed before walking over and pick up the Scouts baseball bat and ball, despite the protest of the Scout himself, and flung the ball in the air and swung, completely missing the ball by a mile and a half.

"Ah guess that'd be why." The Engineer chuckled as the Scout grumpily took his bat back.

"Short or not, glass canon or not, we are going to find out just how good this newbie is soon enough!" The Soldier barked out causing everyone to be silent.

"Battle begins in five minutes." The cold monotone voice of the Administrator called out over the speakers.

"Alright ladies! Suit up, and lets give those BLU's hell!" Soldier barked as we all ran toward the spawn point for our weapons and ammo.

I gave a smirk, eager for my first real battle in a nearly never ending war. I gave a quick look up toward the beautiful blue sky lightly dotted with light fluffy clouds. Strange weather for this, cause it was about to start raining blood.


	3. First Battle

**War**

"Battle begins in sixty seconds." The Administrators voice rang out over the intercom as we all fiddled with our weapons, to ensure they wouldn't fall off or malfunction out on the field. Pyro and I both let off a small stream of flames as a check, much to the chagrin of the other members as the faint scent of kerosene filled the air.

I looked over at the Pyro's flamethrower and noted that it was much larger then mine, since they had to make a new one for my smaller stature so I could keep my speed. It also meant less ammo in the long run, so I'd have to conserve my kerosene on the field. Which meant more shotgun and fire ax action then flames. I'd have to be careful with it, or keep close to where the Ammo spawns or where the Engineer builds his dispenser. Which wouldn't really help me much in the long run.

**Five**

**Four**

**Three**

**Two**

**One**

**Begin!**

As soon as the doors opened we all shot out as fast as we could into the Dustbowl, several of us heading for the first point while the Sniper ran off to find a nest, Engineer who started to set up at our point to ensure it didn't get capped, and Spy who...I'm not really sure where the Spy went, I lost sight of him as soon as the gates opened.

It didn't take long for us to reach the first point, my ears perked as I heard the low whir of a mini gun. I shouted a muffled curse as we all dodged behind some rocks to cover us from two Heavy's backed by a Medic.

"Dammit, they got a second Heavy!" The Soldier growled. Met with annoyed grumbles and curses.

"Alert! The control point is being contested!" The voice of the Administrator called out into out headsets.

"Dammit, Engie can't defend all by himself!" Scout shouted before he, Demo, and Pyro all ran off to help defend the point. I grumbled as I looked around for another way up toward the point, preferable from behind to take the German, Russian, and Armenian by surprise.

"I don't have enough charge for ze uber yet." Medic grumbled as he checked the gauge. I then spotted a small trail that looked like it led around to the other side, the others didn't seem like they were paying much attention to me so I quickly and silently made my way down the trail.

"Look at those cowards, hiding instead of fighting!" The Armenian laughed, joined in by the Russian and German.

"Da! Like tiny leetle babies! WAAAH WAAAH! Run home to Mama leetle babies!" I bit back a groan at the obvious taunting as I found myself right behind the point, surprisingly with a BLU Scout, I quickly pulled out my flamethrower, as the Scout panicked and hushed me, before pulling out a Spy's cloaking devise and decloaked into our RED Spy, I blinked before lowering my flamethrower.

"Quiet little one, if we are to succeeded we have to be silent." The Spy hissed as low as he could that was still audible. Thankfully with the noise of the revving miniguns we weren't noticed.

"Alright, here's the plan, I'll sneak up behind the Medic and backstab him in the heart. After that vou light the two big guys up with vour flames, without their Medic they are much less of a threat." I gave him a thumbs up, before we both flinched as the minigun started shooting, and we heard the pained cry of the Soldier as he fell as he tried to rush in.

"Now you are dead. Not a big surprise!" The Armenian called out.

I bit my lip to hold in a giggle as Spy rolled his eyes before covering his face with his hand.

"Also, never follow Soldier's lead." He muttered as he pulled out his butterfly knife before sneaking up behind the Medic, I quickly readied my flamethrower as I slowly crept behind, Spy then lept as he quickly thrust his knife into the back of the Medic and covered his mouth the muffle the sound of his pained scream. Unfortunately this did catch the attention of the two Heavy's.

"Now, Pyro!" Spy shouted as he quickly pulled his knife out and lept out of the way of my stream of flames.

"I'M ON FIRE!"

"FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!!!"

The heavies shouted as they tried to fight through the pain to aim their mini guns at me, only to receive multiple shots in the back by our Heavy. The Russian quickly fell while I swapped out to my melee and finished the Armenian with an ax to the face. After the opposition fell the light from the point turned from blue to red, as we had captured the control point.

"Dat vas amazing!" Heavy shouted as he did a small jig with his minigun. I gave a grin in response even though they couldn't see.

"Heavy and I vill defend zis point, move on to ze next, Soldier vill catch up to you!" I nodded and started running toward the next point, I knew Soldier had gone through the respawn and should be out of the barracks by now, possibly he had joined in on defending our point until the BLU team members thinned down enough to run off.

~~~~

It didn't take me long to find the last control point, being defended by a Sniper and an Engineer, who had just put the finishing touches onto a level three sentry. I cursed, this time there was no sneaking in behind them, this time the area was in the open, no small bushes or hidden paths to sneak around in. The only thing I would be able to do was building hop and I would still be mostly in plain sight.

I saw a BLU Soldier land behind a nearby building, and he seemed to catch sight of me as well, he nodded and lowered his sleeve to show his Spy watch, showing that he was on my side, I nodded back and pointed at the control point, he tapped his chin in thought. The Sentry wont fire at Spy while he is disguised, but in order for him to place his sapper both the Sniper and the Engineer must be sufficiently distracted that they wont notice. But I wont be able to sufficiently distract them since the only thing I have to hit them with is my shotgun, and that sentry would be able to easily take me out given the opportunity. We'd need another body to act as a distraction that was either hard to hit or does a lot of damage to keep them on their toes.

"Hey Pyro, Spy, Scout here. Medic told me you two are at the last point, headin' up to help!" Scouts voice rang though my ear piece, and Spy gave me a thumbs up showing me that he heard, and he put his plan into action, running off and to play his part. Scout ran up to me only moments later.

"'Ey Pyro, where's the Spy?"

"Mpphs Fuh Pfhoder." It took a moment buy when the disguised Spy ran up, faking being out of breath as he started barking questions toward the BLU's.

"So Spy's playing Soldier, huh? I guess we need to distract those two so he can get rid of dat sentry." I nodded and pulled out my shotgun and cocked it.

"You got me covered?" I gave Scout a thumbs up as he pulled out his bat and baseball. He nodded back and quickly ran out.

"Hey losers, batter up!" Scout shouted as he quickly batted his ball before taking cover. As the ball sailed through the air it nearly smacked the Sniper, but still missed.

"Damn twitchy hooligan!" Sniper growled and took aim where Scout was hiding, I made my play and quickly stepped out of my own hiding spot and quickly fired my shotgun, managing to get sniper in the arm.

"You alright there Sniper?" Engineer asked as he quickly pulled out his pistol from it's holster.

"Not really, but I can still shoot."

"Good, Keep an eye out for Spy's, I'm gonna go handle mumbles." Engineer said as he jumped off the point to run after me. Spy took this opportunity to power up his sapper while Scout distracted the Sniper.

I took the time to reload my shotgun when I heard footsteps, I quickly took aim just as the Engineer popped around the corner aiming his pistol at me.

"Heh, yer shorter then I remember. You must be the new offensive merc." The Engineer grinned at me, while I grunted at the short comment.

"Just where in Sam Hill did they find you at? Kindergarten?" He started laughing at me, until we heard a distress signal from the sentry and Sniper crying out 'the Soldier is a spy!'

"WHAT?!" Engineer shouted and made a severe mistake, he took his eyes off me as he half turned to look behind him, I lept forward and slapped his hand away from me and shoved my shotgun onto his chest, right over where his heart should be, and shot.

"Ya damn coward." The Engineer then fizzled away as the respawn took him away to regenerate him. I sighed and stumbled foreward in time to see the Sniper get hit in the head with a close range shot from the Scout's scatter gun.

"BOOM, Headshot! I am da freakin' best!" The Scout cheered while Spy rolled his shoulders to loosen them up a bit. I simply chuckled as I made my way up to the point so we could cap it and win the game. No sooner then I stepped up to the point I felt something very wrong, I quickly pulled out my flamethrower as I scanned the area. I saw the faintest of movement behind Spy, I couldn't see anything, but I swear something shifted, I kept an eye on the area while the light was slowly changing to red. I then saw the BLU Spy decloak, butterfly knife aimed high to backstab our Spy, I quickly released a wave of flame, which made the BLU Spy give a scream, I ran out of kerosene so I didn't have any more to keep dousing the Spy, our Spy then quickly pulled out his revolver and shot the man right in between the eyes. He quickly dropped and faded away for respawn to take him, just as the light fully turned red.

**Victory!**

"Merci." The Spy smirked at me and I simply gave a thumbs up.

~~~~

"Good job out there today men! Not only did we win the game, but best of all we didn't lose a single control point to those damn BLU team scumbags!" Cheers rang throughout the respawn room as the RED team celebrated their victory.

"And an especial good job to our new Pyro, from what I've heard, you were amazing out there, shame I couldn't see that myself, we'll have to rectify that in the future!" Soldier barked, calling attention to me, under my mask I blushed from the attention and rubbed the back of my head.

"Alright men! Go wash up, dinner is in an hour and Engie is in charge of it tonight!" There was more cheers and some boisterous laughter as we all filed out of the spawn room and out into the barracks. I smiled under my mask as I looked toward the sky as the sun was starting to hang low in the sky. The battle was intense, but I still had fun with it, I was looking forward to working with these nine men for a good long while.

Then I realized that I would have to reveal myself to the Pyro, that I was a female, how in the world was I going to deal with that?


	4. Fire's Light

**Fire's Light**

I gave a sigh as I sat back and relaxed, the battle from earlier had taken it's toll on my back. I was almost desperate for a smoke, since I wasn't able to freely do it like the Soldier, Spy, or Sniper. I huffed slightly in agitation.

I had been thinking of ways that I would be able to tell Pyro, whom I would be bunking with for the upcoming days, that I was a woman. I groaned and gripped my head, the need for nicotine was getting worse.

Standing up I made my way out of the main barracks, which mostly consisted of everyone's bedrooms, and a larger room which made up something like a bare living room, mostly having a couch, TV, and a card table.

I went outside and found a small alley that I could sit down and be mostly hidden from view in, and sighed, I slipped off my rubber gloves and pulled at the zipper on the front of my suit and pulled it off my upper body, letting my arms finally breath after being trapped inside that sweaty suit for most of the day, before reaching for the snaps on the back of my mask so I could pull it off.

Fresh air was sweet as I finally got the tight mask off, though the light from the setting sun burned at my eyes. I ran my fingers through my sweat soaked hair to push it off my forehead so it could dry off. I pulled out my pack of cigarettes and lighter from the pocket on my shirt and lit one up.

I could feel myself relax as the smoke and nicotine entered my lungs, the tightness in my chest lessening and the muscles in my shoulders loosening. I fully relaxed into the side of the building as I exhaled the smoke from my lungs. I hummed a little Country tune from back home in between puffs while I thought of a way to fully introduce myself to Pyro.

~~~~

**Pyro's POV**

"Mmpve mmywon pheem fwe mew Phyro?" I asked around, I had been informed that the new Pyro was going to be bunking with me until we get the spare room that we've been using for storage cleared out. I needed to find him so I could show him to my room. I was hoping he was a little nicer then the rest of the team toward me, since we were both fellow pyromaniacs.

"Naw mate, haven't seen the little buggah." Sniper hasn't seen him.

"Sorry Pyro, ah haven't seen yer new buddy." Engie hasn't either.

"Heavy has not seen leetle Pyro." Dammit, where could he be? Maybe that French frog knows, he has a scary amount of knowledge on the comings and goings of team members.

"La petite flamme? I did see 'im not too long ago. Seemed to be somewhat agitated, saw 'im heading outside. I think 'e may be a polite smoker, so I would say check the smaller ally's between the buildings, would be your best bet." Damn frog talks a lot, I nodded at him and quickly left his presence and begun my search.

I quickly made my way around checking down every alleyway I saw, the new guy was a good hider. I was almost ready to give up and catch him after dinner when I heard a soft song being sung from an alley in between Medic's little ER and a supply shed. I quietly made my way toward the music, the closer the I got the stranger it sounded, the voice was soft, sweet, and oddly higher pitched than any of the other guys here. As quiet as I could I snuck around the corner and saw a sight I hadn't seen in a good long while.

She was a girl, I couldn't believe it, she was even smaller out of her suit, muscled thin, soft ginger hair that was cut short and messily slicked back out of her face, small scars were dotting her arms from knife injuries and being burnt. Her eyes were closed so she hadn't noticed me. She finished her song and took the last remaining drag from the tail end of her cigarette before putting it out.

"Dammit, I just can't think of anything that sounds right!" She groaned as she leaned back against the wall, pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation. I cleared my throat and with a squeak she jumped up from the crate she was sitting on out of surprise. I chuckled slightly as I watched her now open blue eyes stare at me in shock and confusion.

"I...um...uh...Hi Pyro." She smiled nervously, wringing her hands as her eyes darted around.

~~~~

I couldn't believe it, he found me, he fucking found me. Of all the things that would get me caught, it was this abhorrent habit I had picked up long ago. I shot a look toward him, his posture was relaxed, as if he was amused from the whole situation.

"So, uh...dammit, this isn't how I wanted this to go." I groaned, earning a muffled chuckle from the masked flamethrower. I shot him a smile before scratching the back of my neck.

"Mm fwfnny few fom hudding mou frlar." I paused as I attempted to decode his muffles. Before blinking and slapping my forehead, of course he would've known from the bear hug earlier, my suit will hide from prying eyes, but it's useless against feeling another body against your own.

"And here I was over thinking this whole thing." I chuckled, before Pyro suddenly tensed, before pushing me back down onto the crate I was using at my seat earlier, placing his gloved hand over my mouth and climbing into my lap, hunching over his body so his masked face was level with my ear.

I naturally panicked, I had no idea what was going on, why he suddenly lept at me, why he was holding me down. Then I heard it, the loud obnoxious laughter of Scout, running around halfway bonked out of his mind, running past the ally way without a care in the world. Thankfully the crates that were placed in the ally hid us well, cause he didn't notice anything was amiss.

"Fowwy." Pyro apologized as he got off of me, hands behind his back and looking down. I blinked a couple times, while the entire scenario replayed in my head, before relaxing and I smiled at him.

"All is well Pyro, thanks." I stood back up and cracked my back, which had stiffened up on me at all the sudden movement. Before bringing the top half of my suit back up around my shoulders and picked up my mask.

"I guess I should get these damn things back on." I sighed as I put my mask on and straightened out my suit before zipping it up, and slipping my gloves back on.

"Mll, fence mme re fnking hufeddr, mm fould sow mou mee hoom." Pyro's laughed as he held out his hand, I smirked under my own mask as I placed my hand in his, and we started walking toward the barracks. I was going to like this guy, and this place.

~~~~

"Dere you are!" We were almost inside the barracks when we heard the Scout call out.

"Ah was lookin' everywhere for ya! Look, Medic wanted me to give you dis." Scout handed me a small scrap of paper before dashing off, to do...who knows what. I blinked as I opened up the paper;

Pyro, meet me in the medbay tomorrow morning after breakfast. - Medic

I wondered what all this was about. I was probably going to have to let him in on the fact that I was a girl tomorrow, though I can't think of why he would want to see me. Oh well, time will tell.


	5. The First Night

First Night

"Dinner's ready! Come an' get it!" I heard Engineer shout as soon as we walked into the hall, I unzipped the front of my suit just enough so I could shove the scrap of paper in my shirt pocket, before fixing it.

"Mmmds don, phets mmet!" Pyro cheered in delight, as he grabbed my forearm and practically drug me to the dining area. I guess seeing the fire starters room was going to have to wait until later.

We were some of the last one's to enter the hall, quickly being followed in by Scout. Pyro released my arm and rushed for the food, which consisted of grilled pork chops, baked potato's, a steamed vegetable medley, along with a couple pie's for dessert. If the southern accent wasn't enough to tell anyone that this guy was American, his cooking sure did. I smirked and quickly gathered my own plate, of course opting more for the meat and less for the greens.

"Ah, good ta see that Pyro found ye'. Hope ya enjoy the food, we all tend to take turns making the meals round 'ere, so you'll soon be seein' yer fair share of the kitchen yerself." Engineer greeted as I took my seat next to Pyro at the table. I nodded my head before wondering how in the world I was gonna eat with my mask in the way.

I was nudged in the side by Pyro, who showed me how to move his mask in a way that allowed unrestricted access to his mouth, without anyone actually seeing it. I smiled and muffled my appreciation, before imitating him so I could stuff my face with the steaming cooked meat.

I hadn't even taken my first bite yet when I heard a small growl from Pyro, as an arm wrapped around my side and pulled me closer to him, I blinked in confusion and saw that the Spy had sat down next to me, and was looking as perplexed as I was, along with the rest of the table, toward Pyro's actions.

"You a'ight der Pyro? I dun think Spy is trying to hurt da new guy." Scout talked with a mouth full of half-chewed food. Pyro seemed to remember himself before unwrapping his arm and returning to his food without even a grunt. I simply shrugged my shoulders and started eating, smiling to myself at the taste of good food. Everyone else got over the incident, though Engineer and Spy both still had raised eyebrows and kept looking toward Pyro periodically throughout the meal.

Once everyone had finished their meal, Engineer brought over the now sliced up pie's, revealing them to be cherry pie, and it was all I could to to keep from tackling the American to the ground to steal all of it.

"Cherry pie?! American's only eat apple pie! No other pie will do!" Soldier refused his slice and I swiped it without question, adding it to my own slice.

"Speak fer yerself, cherry is the best pie filling eveh!" Scout announced causing Soldier to growl at him while I gave him a thumbs up showing my approval.

"I'm more partial to peach pie's myself. But we 'ad a lot more canned cherries, so I made this instead." Engineer admitted before taking a bite for himself. Over the course of dessert everyone commented their favorite pie's, with the exception of Pyro and I, Pyro preferring to keep to himself, and I had simply pointed at my now empty plates as I had all but inhaled the two slices.

While everyone was finishing up their meals, and Soldier cursed them for not being 'real' Americans, I gathered up my plates and took them back into the kitchen to wash them. While I was cleaning my dishes and cutlery I had overheard a minor argument along with boisterous laughter, apparently I was missing a joke.

I had finished them up and placed them on a nearby rack to dry I walked back out and noted a red faced Scout and Engineer gathering everyone's empty plates. Apparently the one who does the cooking does the washing as well. I felt slightly bad for the Engineer since he'd be cleaning up after everyone's mess, baring mine since I was raised to clean my own messes, including dishes that other people cooked for me. So I decided to assist the Engineer and started gathering the plates from the other half of the table.

"Appreciated son, but I got this." I simply ignored the refusal and kept assisting. This garnered a confused look before a small smile worked it's way onto his face, as he took one side of the table's dirty dinnerware back into the kitchen. I was soon in with him and noted he had set them down and was staring at my own dishes, perfectly clean and happily drying on the rack.

"I'll be darned, ya come from a family with manners. Ya don't see that too often 'ere." I smiled under my mask as I started cleaning the dirty plates.

"Ya know, ya don't have to help me." He was about to say more but I put up my hand and he paused before smiling and started washing the other half of the dishes.

~~~~

"Much appreciated fer the help." Engineer flashed a toothy grin and I gave a thumbs up back before heading out. Pyro was the only one left in the hall apart from us, mindlessly flicking at his lighter, waiting patently for me to finish up with the dishes.

"Mmmll Phinfed Phyro, fowwy foo mmph mmai." I apologized to the pyromaniac who jumped up and grabbed my arm, shouting something like to the secret lair, or something, it was mixed with muffled laughter as well. I smiled and laughed myself as we dashed down the hallway toward Pyro's room.

It wasn't much to look at, a simple bed with a dresser and a few bits and pieces placed around. A small cot was placed in the other corner as a spare bed until they got the spare room cleared out, along with my own luggage. What caught my eye the most was the burn marks along the walls, making them out to be random pictures, like horses, dogs, and cats. Not very good ones, mind you, but pictures non-the-less.

I flopped down onto the bed and started to peel off my gloves while Pyro quietly closed the door. I took a deep breath as I pried off the rubber mask from my face, taking in the scent of smoke, kerosene, and that distinct scent that only a man can produce. It was strangely calming. I looked over and noticed that Pyro had also pulled off his gloves, showing some horribly scarred hands. His left hand looked like he had it shoved into a bonfire and left it there for a good minute. His other hand looked like he had a knife shoved through it and didn't bother to stitch it up. I quickly realized I was staring and looked away, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable.

"It's alright, I'm used to it." My ears perked at the new voice, rough and scratchy, yet surprisingly gentle and quiet. He still had his mask on, but had maneuvered it like he did at dinner, allowing him to be freely heard.

"That doesn't mean I should make you feel like any less of a person because of it." I smiled as I started removing my boots, Pyro had gone quiet as I set the boots under the cot and stretched before sitting in the lotus position. I smiled as I leaned over my crisscross legs and grabbed a rather long suitcase and popped the latches. Pyro tilted his head as I pulled out a Keyboard.

"Why does it look like they cut out the keys to a piano?" Pyro questioned, and I barked a laugh.

"It's called a keyboard. It's an electronic device that is made to sound like a piano, though slightly more metallic." I smiled as I played a short series of notes.

"Heh, I guess we've all been fairly out of the loop since we've been stationed here." Pyro rubbed the back of his head as I played with the keys thinking of a song to play.

"That's alright. That just means there's new things to discover when we all leave." I smiled as I reached over and pulled up another suitcase and pulled out music sheets and laid them out onto the cot as I started to play Clare de Lune.

Pyro relaxed as I played before fully pulling off his mask. I didn't look over to see his face, as I was swept up in my melody.

"You play quite well. Where did you learn?"

"My mother taught me. She always loved to play the piano, and wanted to instill that same love for music into her children. So she taught me and both my brothers how to play. Neither of them particularly cared for it. My older brother was more into girls and sports, and my younger brother was more into toys and taking things apart." I smiled softly.

"So you had a large family?"

"Oh, a very large family. Aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins, you name it." I reached down off my piano long enough to turn the page on the sheets to continue the song.

"What about you, whats your family like?" I questioned, as I spared a glance toward him, His face was scarred, half of it was burned, and he had dark brown hair cut into what looked like a Mohawk. He ran his fingers through his hair, flipping it over to try and cover the burned half of his face.

"I don't really remember too much of my family. I haven't been in contact with my father in ages, and my mother died when I was still young." I gave a frown as I played the final bit of the song.

"I do remember that my mother was a very kind woman, always smiling, I don't think I ever seen a frown on her face. I also remember that she loved to cook, she always seemed to be wearing an apron." Pyro smiled a bit to himself as he leaned onto one of his hands.

"At least you can say you have some good memories of her before she had to leave." I smiled as I set the keyboard to the side and stretched my legs out again. Pyro laughed as we continued swapping stories late into the night, at least until Soldier started yelling.

"LIGHTS OUT MAGGOTS!" We both jumped slightly at the sound of Soldier's bellow. Pyro glared at the door for a moment before we both started taking off our jumpsuits. I sighed and shivered slightly as my warm skin was met with the cool air. I quickly folded up my suit and placed it on top of my suitcases and packed away the sheet papers I had pulled out, along with my keyboard.

I felt the eyes on me and I turned around, Pyro was wearing a set of cotton pants, and a black t-shirt, showing all the scars racing up his arms. His eyes were glued to my care legs. I looked down, and traced all my scars up my legs with my eyes. I cleared my throat, and gently tugged on the hem of my shorts, which stopped about halfway up my thigh. Most of my scars were burns from stepping a little too close to my own flames, others were knife wounds from the people who managed to catch me, along with one bullet wound that went all the way through my calf, from one side to the other.

"S-sorry," Pyro murmured an apology, quickly looking away.

"It's ok," I sighed, "we all have our scars to bear." I pulled out the small amount of stuff from the pocket on my shirt and placed it on top of my suit, quickly throwing my gloves and mask onto it as well.

"Doesn't mean I should make you feel like less of a person because of them." I blinked and looked back at the smile on his face, before returning it.

"I SAID LIGHTS OUT MAGGOTS!" Soldier's voice and pounding on the door was loud enough to wake the dead. Pyro growled at the door while I simply dove into the cot and covered my head with the blanket, just in case he decided to knock down the door.

"Alright, we're goin' to bed, you can shut up." Pyro growled as he snuffed out the light in the room before crawling into his own bed. I peeked my head out from under the blanket when I heard Soldier's heavy footfall walk away from the room.

"Is he always that...intense?" I whispered into the darkness.

"Heh, you think he's bad now? Just wait until tomorrow morning's so called 'training' regimen." He chuckled, I gave a quiet groan, remembering that they were running around like morons this morning thanks to Soldier.

"Greeeaaaaat."

~~~~

I had my arms under my head as I stared at the ceiling through the darkness. My mind going over the events of the past couple days. I frowned to myself as I kept recalling the points about my gender. Pauling telling me to try and keep my gender a secret for as long as I could, and Helen, the Administrator, blatantly telling me that along with my usual duties as a Pyro, I may have to service the men as a makeshift whore. I wasn't too keen on the idea, though it wouldn't be the first time I had to scratch a few people's itches. Though I was usually killing those people.

I smirked to myself as I felt my eyelids finally growing heavy. They were all going to find out in due time that I was a woman, of that I was certain, i'm not the best at keeping those kinds of secrets. However, if they were planning on trying anything, I would make it as difficult as possible for them. After all, whats the fun if there isn't a bit of challenge?


End file.
